Guardian
by CuttlestheFish
Summary: Steven accidentally unleashes an ancient guardian when he goes out on a mission to find Peridot and ends up learning another power from his mother! Can he and the Gems save the day?
1. Chapter 1

Hello friends, welcome to chapter 1! A little background, the idea for this all came to me in a dream. I had a dream where I caught a sneak peak of season 2's finale and... well, things happened. Things happened that I woke up being disappointed that they didn't happen. So naturally I decided to try writing them down, I hope it's a fun ride!

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The Guardian: Chapter 1

It was pretty late in the afternoon when Steven was riding his pink lion around the outskirts of Beach City. After the Gems ungrounded him from TV, he still felt as though there was more he could do to help and decided to take up the idea of checking the borders of Beach City for any signs of Peridot sneaking around. Lion padded along the back alleyways of the bigger stores and sniffed the ground, Steven kept his eyes to the more wooded areas.  
"Smell anything, Lion?" He whispered, Lion grumbled a response. "Yeah, nothing here either. Let's keep going towards the water tower." Lion padded off lazily with another grumble. Their usual patrol took about an hour or two, with a much-deserved snack stop once they reached the water tower. Steven pulled a brown paper bag out of his back-pack with a smile. "Okay, what's the surprise for today!" It was one of the old lunches that Sadie's mom made for her; Sadie had decided to start throwing them out due to a mysterious smell coming from that particular freezer, but not before Steven bought this last one that seemed harmless. "We haaave, a bag of BBQ chips, a bologna sandwich, and-" a little gasp escaped Steven's mouth "A bag of Space Ranger Bites! I thought they stopped making these!" Lion chewed the sandwich while Steven munched on the chips, he picked one of the crinkled bites out and studied the shape. The little boy sighed and looked to Lion. "I wonder how the centipeedle is doing in its bubble... I wonder, Lapis seemed to be aware of herself and everyone else while she was in the mirror. Are Gems still... aware when they're bubbled?" Lion snorted as he gobbled the last of the sandwich and licked his paws. Steven grunted and puffed his chest out. "Yeah, it's probably ready to be out. Maybe I'll ask the Gems for more info on my mom's efforts when we get back." Steven finished the last of his chips and began tearing away at the bag of candies. He just started to lean back on Lion's mane when an all-too familiar voice carried into his ears.

"Blasted primitive organic life... I jus-OW!" Steven sat up stiff, glancing at Lion with enormous eyes. He held his breath and leaned back, extending his ear to the trees. "Oh come ON, why won't you... I can't believe this..." Steven slowly got to his feet, he put a finger up to his lips to shush Lion and motioned the big cat to follow him. The two crept as slowly as possible into the woods before seeing a familiar light green shape moving around, stuck in a bush. "I can't believe this planet, I can't believe any Gem would want to defend this forsaken hunk of disgusting organic-EERGH!" Peridot yanked hard to free her leg from the briars and slammed her back into a tree trunk, she rubbed the back of her head and sat on the ground. Steven blinked a few times and looked at Lion. Well, here she was, but he never thought about how he could contact the Gems. None of them carried a cell phone, and even then, how could he call them without getting her attention. He tugged handfulls of his hair, searching anything for an idea.

And then he stopped. It was probably a big mistake, but it was all he had. He leaned in close to Lion and whispered his plan, Lion flicked an ear but sat down. Steven nodded and braced himself for a sprint.

"Now, on the count of three, act like an earth lion, okay?" He whispered. Lion snorted and stood on all fours again. Steven nodded, counted to three, and full out ran straight at Peridot screaming and waving his arms. Peridot had no time to react, the next thing she knew Steven had his arms pinned around her and face first in the dirt. Peridot shrieked and tried kicking the boy off her but froze in terror when Lion burst from hiding and lay frozen. With a flash of pink, Steven's bubble shield sparked into existence. Steven stood up triumphantly and puffed his chest out. "Alright, Peridot, consider yourself caught!" Peridot groggily got to her feet, rubbing her bruised back. She glanced around the surrounding walls with a raised eyebrow, then crossed her arms.

"So, this is the capability of a Steven's powers." Peridot asked nonchalantly. Steven scratched the back of his head.

"Well, this isn't the only thing I can do. I-um, well it doesn't matter." He pointed a finger at Peridot. "You're coming with me to the Crystal Gems." Peridot blinked.

"Oh really now, and what if I refuse?" She asked with a crooked smile. Steven stomped hard on the edge of the bubble, causing it to roll and knocking Peridot over. Steven grinned, happier more that his little display worked than anything. Peridot grumbled and could only walk behind Steven as he rolled the bubble like a hamster. Lion followed them from behind, growling every time Peridot slowed a step. When they reached the pier the sun had already begun to set. The locals of Beach City stared with large eyes as the three trudged on, Peridot sneered at the others. "I can't believe humans haven't gone extinct yet. Must be something in the water." Steven chose to act like he ignored it and tried to pick up his pace. Another familiar voice called out, making him stop short and causing Peridot to slam her face into the bubble wall.

"STEVEN!" A flash of teal swooped down and landed silently in front of him. "Wha-You caught Peridot? You actually found her!?" Steven couldn't help but grin and wave an arm.

"Well, Lion helped, but feast your eyes!" Steven stepped aside and posed. Peridot's disembodied fingers clenched, her lips drawing back into a snarl. Pearl tightened her grip on her spear.

"Steven, pop your bubble and get away, I'll take it from here." Pearl tried to keep her voice calm but it was apparent that the stress was starting to get to her already. Peridot's eyes narrowed.

"A defective pearl?" Peridot snorted. "You might have outnumbered me on the ship, but I think losing a one-on-one battle with such a weak Gem would be truly laughable." Pearl's face lit up in a shade of blue, her hands began to shake. Peridot's gem began to glow, she reached a hand upward and pulled out a pair of sais. Steven noticed that her hands were also shaking.

"P-Peridot, Peridot please!" Steven stepped towards her. "You don't have to do this, neither of you!" Peridot turned with a snarl and cuffed Steven with the base of her left sai.

"I take no orders for traitors!" She spat, Steven fell backwards, the bubble popped, and Pearl now lunged with nothing but fury.

"YOU WILL NOT LAY A FINGER ON HIM!" Pearl yelled, Peridot ducked out of the way, using her sais to block Pearl's spear. The two leapt back and lunged again, Peridot flipped her sais around, now using them as covers for her arms to block Pearl's thrusts. Steven leaned against Lion, he put a hand to his throbbing head and pulled it back to notice the blood. Peridot must have cut him with one of the sharp edges of her sais. He looked up again, it was apparent the two weren't the big muscle in either of their teams like Garnet or Jasper, the two kept lunging forward for strikes then pulling back only to lunge again. Pearl tried a low strike to sweep Peridot off her feet, but Peridot simply jumped over and tried to make a strike at Pearl's head. Pearl managed to dodge the attack, but received a long cut over her left eyebrow. Steven gasped when he realized it, just like when the Gems were out fighting beasts, they were going for each others gems. Steven stumbled to his feet and bolted for Pearl.

"Stop you two! Please, Peridot we don't want to hurt you!" He called out. Peridot threw a sai, it landed inches away from his foot and stuck into the boardwalk like a spear. Pearl screamed in anger and summoned a second spear, Peridot summoned a replacement and the two lunged again. Steven bolted for the two fighting Gems again, Pearl's face was practically glowing with blue as she kept striking and leaping around Peridot. Each time the two attacked, the aim was for the other's gem. Peridot rolled back to dodge another strike, then lifted a nearby picnic table and threw it at the two. Pearl had a split second to look back and notice Steven was behind her before bracing both of her spears against the boardwalk and catching the heavy structure before it landed on them, she tossed it to the side and turned to Steven.

"Steven, get OUT of here! Find Garnet and Amethyst and get to safety!" Pearl was practically in tears, her emotional state was crumbling. Peridot stood on the top railing of the boardwalk.

"If the Steven is going to join us, let it be. At least it would make it a fair fight for the defective, outdate pearl!" Peridot grinned when she noticed Pearl's reaction to it, now her whole body was trembling. Steven was dumbfounded.

"Pearl?" He asked, taking a step closer. "Pearl are you-?" She turned, leaning in.

"Get out of here NOW!" She released one of her spears to grab at his shirt, but Steven pulled a hand up in defense, he caught her arm.

"Pearl, I-" Suddenly something shook inside of Steven's gut. His vision was blurring and he felt his knees begin to shake. Everything became bright, he heard people behind in screaming, he saw Pearl step back before he felt himself fall back and thump his head against the boardwalk. He felt a wet sensation on his head, it was Lion licking his curly head. Steven blinked a few more times to try and clear his vision, his ears roared and he could only pick up loud crunching noises from a few feet away. He sat up to see Pearl, she was on her knees, her weapons were gone, and her back was to him. He tried to stumble to his feet but they felt absolutely numb, he looked down to see his gem was glowing brighter than he'd ever seen, he tried to call out for Pearl but couldn't tell if his voice was out or not due to the roaring in his ears. She turned, but what he saw make him scream.

Pearl's face looked like a porcelain doll, a broken one, it was completely shattered around the edge of her jawline, leaving only a gaping black hole where her face should be. Suddenly a bright white light burst from both the hole and her gem, her body convulsed, Steven felt the earth shake and clung to Lion's mane. Then the sound of grinding stone filled his ears, he closed his eyes in panic and tried to bury his face in Lion's mane, the shaking, the noise, it was all too much for him, he started sobbing into Lion's mane, there was nothing he could think to do. Then he suddenly felt something cold touch him, he gasped and tensed, then began to scream as he felt himself being lifted from the air. He called out to Lion, but Lion only stood stoic as ever. Steven blinked a few times, shocked at how calm Lion was, then looked down to see that he was being carried up... in a gigantic hand! Steven screamed and tried to struggle before he turned and noticed the one that was holding him. It was definitely a Gem. The first thing he noticed was just how huge the figure was, he looked down to the buildings below him, this Gem had to be taller than even Alexandrilite. He looked back to the Gem's face, a thin oval face with a stoic expression, but everything seemed... carved, rather than naturally forming like a normal face. Everything was a warm, iridescent mix of white and pink, including the Gem's skin, hair and clothing. The pearl on the Gem's head stood out because of this. Steven squinted as he studied the face, even the eyes seemed to be the same iridescent pink! Steven suddenly remembered Pearl and began scanning the ground for her. He called out to her, but there was no answer, he looked for Peridot but she seemed to have escaped in the chaos. Steven looked back to the tall figure holding him.

"I... um, are you... are you a fusion?" He asked, the figure simply tilted its massive head in curiosity.

"STEVEN!" Another familiar voice called out, it was Garnet and Amethyst leaping over the rooftops. When they reached the two, Garnet's shoulders dropped. She put her gauntlets away and simply stared. "Oh, oh Steven..." she said. "What have you done?"

"What? What's he done? What is that?" Amethyst turned to Garnet with a bit of annoyance in her voice. Steven called to the two.

"Guys, I'm up here! Quick, Peridot's escaping, I think, or she might be here, and I think Pearl's hurt, but then again she might not be, I don't know but I need to get down!" Garnet cupped her hands and called out to the boy.

"Steven, look to her and ask her to put you down!" Steven blinked at the instructions, but turned anyway to the Gem.

"Um, hi, can you put me down? Those are my friends," he said and motioned to Garnet and Amethyst "and they can help." The figure looked to the two and then to Steven, then slowly lowered its hand to the ground, letting the boy hop off and run to the others. He hugged Garnet's lets. "Garnet! Pearl and Peridot were fighting, I-I tried to get them to stop, but then this big crashing noise happened and I-I don't even know what happened!" Steven rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand to rub away the tears, Garnet took his hand.

"Steven, you're hurt, what happened?" Garnet asked in a more serious tone.

"Peridot, she hit me on the head." Steven rubbed the cut under his hair. Amethyst growled and scanned the area.

"Where is that little green punk?" She mumbled.

"Steven, do you remember any details, what happened to Pearl before this bright light?" Garnet was back to her gentle tone again. Steven blinked a few times.

"I... I tried to get them to stop, I took Pearl's arm and then it happened." He gasped. "My gem! It started glowing! I never saw it glow white before! Does that mean anything!? Garnet, was this something my mom did?" Steven felt his stomach drop when he saw Garnet's expression. Her jaw dropped, she looked up to the figure. Steven followed her gaze, the figure's iridescent body bounced off the last few beams of light from the sun.

"Oh Pearl..." Garnet whispered, she extended a hand to the figure but pulled back. She then turned to Steven. "Steven, I want to let you know this. What you did, it wasn't bad, you didn't do a bad thing. But it's about time we let you know a few things... about Gems, about your mom, and about her relationship with Pearl."


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again, friends! I wanted to try and keep this ball rolling while it was still fresh in my mind. This was more details from the dream, but anything with the room later on was added on. Anybody scratching their heads from reading Chapter 1 will get explanations in this! I'm gonna try and flesh this out into a story on its own, as always, enjoy!

The Guardian: Chapter 2

"Okay" said Steven, he had his hands up to the figure. "We're going inside, you? You stay out here, don't step on anybody? I guess? I'll be back!" The figure gently lowered itself and sat cross legged on the sand, it was nighttime in Beach City so thankfully there wasn't anybody out there to see her. When he was sure it was clear, Steven joined Garnet and Amethyst in the kitchen. Amethyst was sitting with her arms crossed on the stairs to his room, Garnet was sitting on the couch. She wasn't leaning back in her normal relaxed pose, she was sitting straight, with her hands on her knees, she motioned for Steven to come sit next to her. "So, is that still Pearl?" He asked as he joined Garnet on the couch. Amethyst grunted and rested her chin on her knees. Garnet gave Steven an ice pack for his head, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Steven, there's a few things you need to know about the Gem homeworld. It's very..." Garnet hesitated, clenching her free hand, but continued. "It's very similar to your videogames."

"Like... Barnyard Crosswalk?" Steven asked.

"No, like that one with the golfing characters. Remember that one scene in the game you showed me, where that one character said that your team was weak and didn't deserve to continue?" Steven nodded. "Well, that's similar to how home is for us." Amethyst buried her face in her knees. "If you're weak in the eyes of your superiors, they take you away... I... we... lost a lot of dear friends back home." Garnet swallowed a lump in her throat. Steven blinked a few times, he'd never seen Garnet like this before. She took a deep breath and continued. "You've seen the kindergarten, well, a long time ago one of the superiors tried to grow a new kind of Gem. That new Gem was a pearl, there were lots of them, they were easy to make and didn't require a lot of space or time." Steven's jaw dropped.

"There's more like Pearl?" He asked, Garnet's shoulders dropped as she nodded. Steven looked out the window to the giant figure waiting patiently outside. "Garnet... before this all happened, Peridot said Pearl was... defective. I think Jasper called her that too." Amethyst bolted out of her fetal position to stare at Steven with large eyes.

"She did what?" Demanded Amethyst, she growled under her breath. "When I get my hands on that little..." Garnet raised a hand to quiet Amethyst before turning to Steven.

"Steven, the pearl we know was... well, in the eyes of the superiors, imperfect." Garnet continued. "Have you noticed her Gem is more of an oval shape? They didn't like that. She could still perform like everybody else, she could still fight, she could still relay messages, but the shape of the gem meant that her weak spot was more visible. So they were going to take her away..." Steven felt tears beginning to well in his eyes. "If it weren't for your mother stepping in, she wouldn't be here."

"My mom?" Steven asked, Garnet nodded.

"I don't remember exactly when, but she and your mother developed a friendship, so your mother stepped in and assigned Pearl to be her own personal advisor. Your mother, she was one of the superiors I mentioned." Garnet nodded to Steven's gem, he put a hand over his belly.

"My mom was... she was a head honcho?" Steven asked.

"Oh yeah, a very high figure, that's why she led us when we first came to Earth. Pearl was with her every step of the way, us too." She motioned to herself and Amethyst. "Anyway, pearls were given certain tasks and therefore had certain abilities like the ones you've seen Pearl use. Like her projection, her knowledge of the mathematics and whatnot. One of those abilities was only capable if they were assigned a superior Gem to serve, it was only meant to be used during the utmost emergencies. When the superior was under attack, the pearl could be unlocked and become a Nacre. By having the blood on your hand, you must have somehow activated her Guardian mode." Steven looked out the window again.

"Okay, so I can change her back, right?" He turned back to Garnet, but she was looking away. "I mean, if I can unlock it then I can lock it back again, right?" Garnet turned back to Steven.

"Steven, the Nacre is only to be used when there are no other options for defense." Steven took the ice pack from his head and squeezed it in both hands.

"Well, I'm safe now." He protested. Garnet's grip on Steven's shoulder tightened.

"Steven, there wasn't a way to shut off the Nacre. Pearl is... she isn't coming back." Amethyst jumped to her feet.

"That's bologna!" Amethyst yelled. "Look, I know I didn't come from the home planet but there HAS to be a way to bring her back! She can't be stuck like that forever! Come on, Garnet, if you know so much then you gotta know how to turn it off!" Amethyst jumped down and stood facing the two. "And look, I know Rose kept secrets from everyone, but why keep this from me too? How do you know about this, Garnet? I can understand keeping it from the two of us if Rose and Pearl were so close, but how come I'm the one left in the dark here?" She pointed a finger at Garnet. Garnet's mouth twitched, she took her hand away from Steven's shoulder.

"Only one of us knew, originally." Garnet said, she began glowing a dull white light, when it darkened Garnet was replaced by two smaller figures. Steven's mouth dropped, it was Ruby and Sapphire. Ruby sat with her arms crossed and an angry scowl. Sapphire sat up with her hands on her dress.

"When we were on home planet, and before I met Ruby, I had a pearl assigned to me. People thought I was a weak gem, but I was valuable to the homeworld, so they assigned me a pearl to keep me under close watch. That pearl told me everything about the Nacre Guardian defense and how I was free to use it should we be under attack. I never liked her, she was... too cheerful, I could always tell she was never meant to be MY pearl, she was really working for someone else. I took the Earth mission, honestly, to get away from her... then I met Ruby..." Sapphire took one of Ruby's hands. "I never needed to worry about safety again." Ruby's scowl faded away, she looked to Steven.

"Steven, your mother gave all of us a second chance. And we're all eternally grateful." The two then began to glow, joining them as Garnet again. Steven could only stare, he looked to the floor, it was all making sense now.

"Everything she ever did, she did for my mom... She never kept secrets, she tried to get Pearl to go home, she..." Steven's voice faded to a whisper as he remembered everything Pearl said on that night when they put Rose's sword and scabbard into Lion's mane. His grip on the ice pack tightened, he was afraid he was going to break it. He looked at the two with eyes ready to overflow with tears. "I made it all for nothing!" He couldn't hold it anymore. "I made her a walking statue, after everything my mom did for her and now I turned her to stone like in that Clash of Monsters movie!" Garnet and Amethyst rushed to Steven and pulled him in a tight hug.

"Steven, you did absolutely nothing wrong." Garnet whispered into his ear, she gently stroked his curly hair. Amethyst got down to his level.

"Come on, Steve-o, she was always wanting to do everything she could to protect us all. Well, she's still doing that now." Amethyst tried to smile, not very faithful that her own words were helping. Garnet pulled him aside.

"This is something Pearl and Rose were aware of when Rose started Resistance, we never thought that you inherited the ability to unlock the Nacre, but Pearl was always willing to take the risk should anything happen. Otherwise..." Garnet's voice trailed off, her jaw clenched, then she pulled Steven into a tighter hug. "It's going to be okay, Steven." She whispered. The three sat in the room for a while, then Steven told the Gems that he was going to try and get some sleep for it was already close to midnight. Garnet and Amethyst retreated to their rooms, Steven sat on his bed, all the curtains drawn, and counted to fifty. After he counted, he jumped from his bed and ran to the temple door, his gem glowed and the door opened, he stepped into his mother's room.

"I... I can't sleep knowing you're outside... Pearl..." he couldn't bring himself to call the figure outside Nacre. The door closed behind him, surrounding him in a void of happy pink clouds. Steven clapped his hands together. "Okay, give Steven a king sized fluffy bed with lots of pillows and blankets to burrow in." With a puff of pink, the perfect comfort-bed was in existence. "Perfect." He said to himself before jumping in. Even when he was little, he always loved getting extra pillows and blankets to make a makeshift fort in his bed. After constructing the perfect little den, he finally managed to nod off.

Steven opened his eyes after hearing the familiar sound of running water, he looked down and noticed he was standing on one of the large overflowing pools in Pearl's room.

"W-what? What am I doing-?" Suddenly he heard the temple door open and close behind him, he sunk down into the water until it reached his nose. It was... Pearl? He gasped, nearly chocking on water in the process, Rose Quartz was with her! Steven clamored to the edge of the pool and jumped down. "PEARL! PEARL YOU'RE NOT A STATUE AND MY-" Steven felt himself shift through their bodies before hitting the wall, like they were nothing.

Like they were clouds.

Steven rubbed his head, still sore from when Peridot got him, and turned to look at the two. Pearl was in a different outfit from he remembered, and she was very upset.

"Rose, listen, I know we have a lot of support, but I need to-" Pearl started, she kept herself bowed with her hands stiffly at her sides. Rose put a hand on her shoulder.

"Pearl, I know what you're going to say, the answer is still no." Pearl's face jerked up.

"B-But Rose," Pearl stuttered, she stood straight "please. We need to think about what's at stake here!" Rose's mouth clenched, looking hurt.

"What's at stake, Pearl, is the safety of everyone behind us. The Gems, and this planet, they're all counting on us. But..." Rose shook her head. "I won't allow myself to stoop to their levels. Pearl," she put a hand on Pearl's shoulder, causing her to jump at the sudden contact "you're more than just... what they've told you. You're not useless, you're not a pawn, you're more than just my servant." Pearl kept looking at the floor, Rose put a finger under her chin and guided it to look at her. "You're a Crystal Gem too, Pearl, I won't have you sacrifice yourself like that. You would only be dedicating yourself to protecting me, when it is I who should be protecting all of us." Pearl's eyes were beginning to fill with tears.

"Rose..." she said "You don't understand." Her hands began to tremble. "If something happened to you... I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself if I didn't give everything I could..." Steven took a step back, hugging himself, his eyes darted between the two. His mother's face looked absolutely crushed, Pearl's shoulders wouldn't stop shaking. Steven gripped his head.

"Room, I know you're doing this! I don't want to see it! Make it stop! STOP!" He spun around to run, only to slip and fall on his back. There was Garnet standing on one of the floating pools. His head swiveled between her and the two behind him, he leapt to his feet and jumped over the edge of Pearl's room. The plan worked, he shocked himself out of the dream... or vision... that the room put him in. He jumped and caused the bed to puff into a mass of clouds, what time was it? He bolted from the temple and into his room, just in time to hear the door to Garnet's room activate, he turned tried to put on a casual pose.

"Morning," Garnet said "sleep well?" Steven tried to chuckle.

"Um, yeah, I guess so..."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello friends, this one is a bit of an off-topic chapter, but something that came to me. With the show giving us more clues into the Gem world every episode, I know it's not going to mirror canon stuff 100%. So yeah, at this point I'm just gonna keep going in this direction. This chapter is a simple flashback type, enjoy!

The Guardian: Chapter 3

The red Gem cocked her head, her thick eyebrows extending upward in an inquisitive way. She leaned back in her chair, watching her pearl do routine maintenance of her temple.

"Hey, pearl." She said lazily. The pearl jumped to attention and addressed her with a 'yes?' "I'm bored, come with me to the sparring arena." The pearl nodded and followed the red Gem out of the temple. They walked a cobblestone path through a colorful forest, passing a few Gems along the way, before coming across a carefully crafted structure. The sparring arena was an area where Gems could leisurely practice combat, with a large main arena in the center and various smaller sparring rooms built along the edge. The red Gem scowled when she noticed that the main arena was already occupied and picked one of the smaller ones. Her gem, located on her solar plexus, began to glow as she drew her weapon. It was a beautiful crimson scimitar, the pearl couldn't help but feel a cold chill run down her spine as she gently bowed to her mistress and summoned a glow from her own gem. A holographic doppleganger appeared before the red Gem, it blinked to life.

"Do you wish to engage in combat?" A crackling robotic voice buzzed, the red Gem sneered and sliced it in half. The doppleganger fizzed into nothing. The pearl jumped and looked at her mistress with a shocked expression.

"I grow tired of these cheap, fake, knockoff spars." The red gem growled, she approached the pearl and caused her to back into the wall of the sparring room. "Summon your weapon, I want an actual fight this time." The pearl's eyes widened, she never sparred with her mistress before, but had witnessed countless spars with her holographs and trembled.

"I-um-B-Beryl, I'm not sure that's a good idea." The pearl began shrinking to the floor as the red Gem descended on her. "I-I mean it wouldn't be such a fair fight with you being so experienced and all and I just, well, not having so... much... experience in..." Beryl's eyes narrowed as she glared down on the smaller Gem. She leaned down and began to whisper in the pearl's ear.

"You will stand and face me like a real gem, or I shatter that oddly shaped thing you call a gemstone on your face." Beryl spat coldly into the pearl's ear, the pearl felt her eyes sting as tears began to form in them. Beryl stood straight and tightened her grip on her scimitar. "On your feet, reject." The pearl stood, her eyes shut tight, and she pulled her white spear from her gem. "Good, now come at me." Beryl grinned. The pearl took a deep breath and lunged.

Beryl dodged the attack easily, then followed with a swing of her own weapon. The pearl dodged and blocked with her spear, she tried to do a low sweeping kick but Beryl only caught her leg. She was easily twice the pearl's size and was able to pick her up, dangling her upside down.

"Is that really the best you can do?" Beryl growled, her lips pulling back in an angry snarl. The pearl only dangled, clutching her spear, and staring at her mistress with terror. Beryl grunted and flung her to the other side with a "pathetic" mumbled under her breath. "I knew I shouldn't have taken a chance with a defective pearl. Since I'm so nice though, you're getting one more shot. Come at me." The pearl managed to maneuver herself in the air so she could land on her feet, but paused before making a second lunge. Instead of charging directly at her, she tried making a wide circle before charging in on one of Beryl's blind spots. Speed was her best ally, she chose her strikes carefully and waited for the best moment to make an offensive attack, while concentrating more on blocking Beryl's attacks. It seemed to work for the most part, every strike Beryl made was met with the pearl's spear blocking it, and after ten minutes the pearl managed to land a scratch on her waist. But the calculations were off, it left the pearl's torso completely open right after, Beryl used her free hand and landed a heavy punch in the pearl's chest. The pearl flew back, spinning into the far wall with a loud crash and crumpling to the floor. Beryl waited a minute for her to get up, but the pearl lay motionless. She sighed angrily and approached the crumpled mess of broken wall shards and rolled the pearl over with her foot.

"Get up" she flatly began, but closed her mouth when her eyes fell on the pearl's face. The pearl's body trembled while she laid on the floor, the gemstone in the middle of her forehead was cracked straight down the middle and branched in all directions. She raised a shaking hand to her mistress, a small whimper escaping her throat. Her eyes filled with tears as Beryl raised her foot and rested it against her cracked gem. All she could hear was crackling and a buzzing noise, she shut her eyes tight and held her breath.

"STOP!" A booming voice echoed into the room, the pressure on Beryl's foot stopped. "What in the world is going on here? What are you doing to this pearl?" The voice was sharp and accompanied by footsteps.

"This is no concern of yours, Quartz, this pearl is under my charge and I choose what happens to it." Beryl's words were low and almost growling.

"And you choose to break her? Under what reason?"

"It's defective, I can feel my body growing weaker by the day because its pathetic holograms can't keep up with me, not even the real thing can keep me properly trained. What's the point of having one of these if it can't even keep you at your top?"

"That still isn't a reason to break her, SHE is still a gem. And you above anyone else should know that pearls are not combat Gems! If you want more of a challenge, ask someone else here for a match!"

"Like you?"

The pearl blacked out after hearing those words from Beryl. She woke with a wet sensation on her face, when she opened her eyes she saw a mass of fuzzy pink blobs. When they came together and sharpened, the pearl was looking into a beautiful rounded face with the softest expression. The pink Gem smiled.

"Oh thank goodness, we were just in time." The pink Gem's voice was soft and full of patience. The pearl brought a hand to her gem, now completely healed. She took in a deep breath and relaxed, but then suddenly jerked upward and out of the pink Gem's lap.

"I-I-Beryl?" The pearl's head darted to look for her mistress. But the red Gem was nowhere to be found, they were still in the sparring room, but another red Gem was with them. The other Gem raised an eyebrow and looked at the pink Gem. The pink Gem put a hand on the pearl's shoulder.

"You're no longer Beryl's pearl," the pearl turned to look at the pink Gem "my name is Rose Quartz." The pearl's shoulders slumped, not knowing how to react. "You're coming to my temple with me." Rose smiled, the pearl felt a small curl in her lips. She turned to the other Gem who only nodded.

"Name's Ruby," said the smaller Gem "I guess... you just go by Pearl?" The pearl blinked a few timed, turned back to Rose, then to Ruby again.

"I... I guess I do." The pearl's smile grew. Rose got to her feet and straightened her fluffy pink dress.

"Well then, my Pearl, how about Ruby and I show you to the temple?" Asked Rose with a grin, Pearl couldn't help but smile back, she looked to Ruby who gave a shy smile of her own. The three left the sparring room and followed another cobblestone path, it was a different branch down a colorful forest. To Pearl, it was just another way home.


End file.
